Metallica live at London Stadium closed the M72 World Tour after three years and 99 shows. The run ends with the two-night, no-repeat format set aside for now, and the band already has a residency at The Sphere in Las Vegas starting in October.
99 Shows, One Last Night
The closing-night set opened with Whiplash, then moved through For Whom The Bell Tolls and Ride The Lightning in quick succession before The Memory Remains broke the chronology. That sequence fits the story of the tour itself: a long-form run built to keep each stop distinct, and a finale that still found room for speed and contrast rather than a purely ceremonial lap.
The count would reach 100 if last year's Back To The Beginning appearance is included. That detail matters because it shows how tightly the tour has been measured from the start; Metallica are not ending a vague stretch of activity, they are closing a numbered cycle that can be tracked show by show.
London Stadium and the bill
London Stadium was built for the 2012 Olympics, and its live history has included the first UK appearance from the reunited core Guns N' Roses in 2017 and Iron Maiden's biggest UK gig to date last summer. The venue has a reputation for acoustics described as some of the most reliably awful in the UK, so a triumphant blowout there always asks a band to win against the room as much as against the calendar.
AVATAR and PANTERA were on the bill with Metallica, and Johannes Eckerström seemed genuinely emotional about being on the road with Metallica. He called the warmth he brought to AVATAR's set “d'aw shucks”, while Phil Anselmo admitted he was having in-ear issues, a reminder that a stadium night can look seamless from the seats while still being a grind onstage.
Las Vegas in October
PANTERA also added a Fairies Wear Boots tribute to Ozzy, which gave the night a second layer of farewell energy without stealing focus from the tour closer. Metallica's decision to retire the two-night, no-repeat format for now reads less like a retreat than a reset: after 99 shows, the concept has done its job, and the October residency at The Sphere in Las Vegas gives the band a different kind of scale to work with next.
